Fight or Flight
by c00kiefic
Summary: Both have consequences, both have the ability to both fix and or destroy. A look at what might have happened if Jackie had made different choices in Bohemian Rhapsody.
1. Flight

**Fight or Flight. Part one. Flight. **

**Both have consequences, both have the ability to both fix and or destroy. A look at what would have happened if Jackie had made different choices in Bohemian Rhapsody. **

**This is a two part one shot, one where Jackie chooses Flight, the other where she chooses Fight. **

**Please Review. **

**I advise you to go listen to _With or Without You_ by U2 when the scene comes up. It reminds me so much of Jackie and Hyde that it's almost ridiculous. **

**I had to write this. It has nothing in common with Don't Stand So Close to Me. **

In 1979, Steven Hyde had made the worst mistake of his life. Little did he know the consequences his actions would have had, not just on him, but on his friends as well. By staying with Sam and not going after Jackie, his life as he knew it fell apart. Jackie, without warning, had left Point Place. Without her boyfriend or her best friend, Donna slipped into depression, Kelso and Fez tried hard to keep what was remaining of the group together, but it didn't work. Eventually, they both gave up. Kelso left for Chicago and Fez decided to return to his native homeland.

And Hyde was left with a wife he didn't love.

They lasted for two years before it got to be too much for both of them. She left him in the middle of the night with nothing more than a note.

It made him laugh how everyone in his life wrote him notes when they left him. He had quite the collection.

When WB had offered him a store in New York, he jumped at the opportunity. There was nothing in Point Place for him anymore. Not since that fateful day in 1979 at least.

* * *

Fight or Flight her mind kept repeating itself like a broken record. She wanted nothing more than to start screaming at the skank who was coming to ruin her life. To pull her by her hair and throw her out the door and demand Steven talk to her.

But her feet wouldn't listen. They just picked her up and carried her out the door as fast as they could.

She ran to her apartment and pulled out a suitcase. She threw everything she had in it, clothes, make up, Fluffycakes. She tossed in her toiletries from the bathroom. She quickly wrote Fez a note, took one last look around and left Point Place forever.

* * *

When Fez returned to his empty apartment to find Jackie's stuff gone, he knew instantly who to blame. He found her note on the kitchen counter. It was short, her handwriting sprawled as though she was in a hurry. It was obvious she hadn't taken her time in writing it or in leaving.

He ran to the Forman's basement.

"GET UP!" He yelled at Hyde who was sitting in his usual chair.

"Uh, Fez, what's going on?"

"I said up you sick bastard!"

"Uh Fez, I don't know what's gotten into you, but you need to calm down."

"No! I will not calm down! Now get up so I can kick your ass!"

Donna finally broke in. "Fez, we all know you can't kick Hyde's ass."

"I don't care!" Fez screamed.

Hyde just shook his head. "Hey look man, I know Jackie's probably upset but what can I do?"

Fez looked incredulously at Hyde before exploding again. "She's gone you asshole!"

"I'm sure she isn't gone, she probably just went somewhere to think." Donna said, trying to placate him.

"Oh yeah? Then why is all of her stuff gone? Why did she write me this?" He shoved the letter into Donna's hands.

With hesitation, she slowly started to read the letter out loud.

"_Fez, _

_I'm sorry I didn't stick around to say goodbye, but I have to leave. I don't know where I'm going, and I don't know if I'll ever see you again, but I can't stay here anymore. _

_Tell our friends that I love them and I'll miss them, _

_Jackie." _

Donna briefly wondered why the paper was wet before she realized she was crying.

"I'm sure she'll come back." Hyde tried to convince himself as much as her.

Fez shook his head sadly. "She took Fluffycakes. She's really gone."

It was that piece of information alone that broke Hyde. He was grateful for his sunglasses as his eyes filled with tears. Jackie was gone and all he had left was a stupid stripper wife.

* * *

Eight years later.

Jackie tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the elevator to come. The company president just had to have the Christmas party in the building with the slowest elevators in New York. She looked around at the other people waiting for the elevators. An older gentlemen wearing a tuxedo was talking to a younger man, and a young couples dressed to the nines looking happy.

What the hell did they know about happiness?

She was grateful when the elevator finally opened its doors. She rushed inside along with the two men and the couple.

They were now kissing. She wanted to punch them.

* * *

Steven Hyde hated parties. He had an unspoken rule, no parties. But when his father requested, nay, ordered him to attend the Calvin Klein Christmas party, he knew he had no choice but to attend. Unfortunately, he didn't have a date so he ended up taking his sister, Angie.

He tugged on his bow tie. He never got used to wearing those things. He was Steven Hyde, record store owner, not Steven Hyde, corporate stooge.

"Would you stop that?" Angie asked him, pulling his hands away from his tie.

"You know how much I hate these things Ange."

"Oh come on, it's fun. Loosen up!"

"That's funny coming from you."

She glared in response. "Hey, I've loosened up a lot!"

He smiled at her. "I guess you have." He admitted, and it was true. Eight years could do a lot to a person.

Just then, WB came with his date, an attractive black woman named Rachel.

"Steven, Angie, I hope you two are having fun?" He asked them. Rachel pulled away and excused herself to get a drink.

"Oh yeah, I'm having the time of my life." Hyde told his father sarcastically.

* * *

She was having the time of her life. As soon as she had gotten off the elevator one of her co-workers had asked her to dance. Then, another, and another, she knew her feet were going to kill her later, but she was having too much fun to care. As she danced with some guy who worked in accounting, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"May I have this dance?" he asked her.

She looked at the familiar face. "Oh my god!" She threw her hand to her mouth.

He smiled and held out his hand.

"WB! What are you doing here?"

"Calvin and I are good acquaintances Jackie." He told her as they started to dance.

"So, I hear you got a divorce." He told her.

"Where did you hear that? Have you been keeping track of me?"

He gave a short shrug. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Uh, okay." She paused and looked up at Steven's father. "Does he know?" she asked in a very small voice.

"No, Jackie. He doesn't know, but Jackie, there's something you should know." But before he could continue, she was being pulled away.

"I'll talk to you later!" She tried to shout over the crowd.

He gave her a small wave in return.

CUT

"And so I told him, I going to this party and I don't care if you care! And so, here I am." The girl in Hyde's arms wouldn't stop yapping about her boyfriend.

"He doesn't like these things. Says they're for losers." She continued.

"Well, he's right." Hyde responded.

She backed away. "You men are all the same." She said, stomping off.

Angie came up to him. "That's the third girl who has run away from you. What are you saying to them?"

"I'm not saying anything to them." He denied.

"Right."

He turned to look at his sister. "Look Angie, I know you're trying to help, but I don't want to dance with anyone."

"Anyone but Jackie you mean."

He glared at her. "I thought you promised to never say her name again."

"Whose name? Jackie's?" Seeing his anger, she continued. "Jackie, Jackie, Jackie." She teased.

"Stop it Angie."

"I know Dad knows where she is. I could ask him for her number."

Hyde blinked. Wait a minute, his dad knew where Jackie was and didn't tell him? "What the hell?"

He sighed. "Look, it doesn't matter, she's probably moved on with her life. I bet she's married to a guy with money."

"Actually, she works here." His father had walked up in the middle of their conversation.

"She works for Calvin Klein?" Hyde asked.

"Yeah. She's here too." He pointed to a girl dancing with some guy.

Time stopped. Everything froze and all he could see was her. She had grown into a gorgeous woman. He felt a familiar tug on his chest as the man she was dancing with pulled her closer. Jealousy had never been one of Hyde's biggest issues, especially when it concerned Jackie and apparently eight years had done nothing to lessen that. He was relieved when she backed away from him.

"Excuse me." WB said, making his way to the brunette on the dance floor.

* * *

The guy was starting to creep her out. There was a time and a place for everything, and that kind of dancing was not acceptable at a company Christmas party, especially when that company was Calvin Klein.

"Jackie!" Steven's father had found her again. "There's someone I want you to meet." He nodded to the creep and took Jackie's hand to lead her away.

"Thank you WB! That man was starting to get on my nerves."

"Come on Jackie, there's someone I think you should see."

She stopped dead in her tracks as she spotted Angie talking to a man. His back was turned but she knew instantly who it was. His hair was still in its familiar fro and she could see the back of his sunglasses tucked behind his ears.

Angie saw Jackie and smiled.

Jackie tried to smile back but was incapable.

He turned around after noticing Angie's smile.

Fight of Flight her head kept repeating.

Eight years ago, she chose flight. This time, in a room full of people, most of them co-workers, she knew her choice was once again obvious. Without any ado, she turned and ran out.

After all, a fight wouldn't be acceptable.

* * *

This time, Hyde knew the choice he had to make. Without even bothering to say goodbye to his dad or sister, he ran out after her.

She was tapping her foot, whispering to herself. He went to her and caught her arm.

"Jackie, please."

She turned around. "No Steven, I need to go…"

"Please Jackie!" He yelled as she jumped in the elevator. He ran in after her and as soon as the door was closed, he hit the stop button.

"You can't run away again Jackie."

"Push that button now Steven!" She yelled at him.

He blocked her path. "No Jackie, you're going to stay and listen to what I have to say."

"Fine."

He stared at the girl he had lost eight years ago.

"Well?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Great, now can I go?"

He shook his head. "Donna really misses you."

She sighed. "I miss her too; I'll have to call her sometime."

"Uh, yeah. And Fez and Kelso…"

"What about you Steven? What did you do when I left?" She interrupted.

He started to speak but she held up her hand and stopped him. "I know exactly what you did. You didn't try to find me; you didn't ask about me, you just stayed married to that skanky wife of yours. You probably threw a party when you found out I left." She sounded bitter.

He gulped. "No, Jackie. I didn't try to find you, but only because you didn't want to be found. And yes, I stayed with Sam, but what else was I supposed to do?"

"You were supposed to run after me!" She yelled at him, punching him in the chest with her tiny fists.

He grabbed them and held them tightly as he looked into her eyes.

"I died the day you left Jackie, so don't tell me what I did or didn't do! I lost you!" he yelled at her.

* * *

She wasn't going to give in. He couldn't just come back into her life after all this time and expect everything to be okay.

Nothing was okay, nor would it ever be.

The musak in the elevator changed to a more familiar tune. Unconsciously, she started to sing the words.

"See the stone set in your eyes, see the thorn twist in your side, I wait for you. Slight of hand and twist of fate, on a bed of nails she makes me wait. And I wait without you. With or with you."

"You know this song?" He asked.

"It's my favorite." She answered.

He let go of her hands. "Can we at least go somewhere and talk?" He asked.

She looked at the man who had once owned her heart. Okay, once was a lie. He still owned it. Even when she had married Kyle, Steven was all she thought about. It had been one of the reasons for their divorce.

"Okay."

The ended up at his apartment as she knew her now ex husband would probably there with his new mistress.

They sat on the couch as he told her about what happened when she left. Of how Donna broke down, how Fez never forgave him for Jackie's disappearance, Kelso moving to Chicago. He told her about what he had been doing, of his divorce.

In return, he listened intently as she told him how she ended up in New York, how alone she was, how she had taken a job as a waitress. She had put herself through college, eating boxed macaroni and ramen noodles for dinner. She told him how she got the job at Calvin Klein as a receptionist but had slowly made her way up to being an assistant designer. She then brought up Kyle.

"You're married?" He asked, unable to keep the disappointment of his voice.

"Not anymore. We're getting a divorce. I already signed the papers."

"Oh, what does he do?"

"He's a doctor."

"Well, that's what you wanted right?"

She laughed. "Yeah, I always wanted a womanizing surgeon for a husband. He's just like Michael, only smarter."

He had to laugh at that.

She looked at the clock. "I should get going; I need to get home to Stephanie."

"Who is Stephanie?" He asked as he led Jackie to the door.

She turned around and gave him a huge grin. "Why she's your daughter Steven."

He ran after her in the hallway.

"I have a daughter?" He choked out.

"Yes, and I should have told you, blah, blah, blah. I'm sorry. If you want, you can meet her tomorrow."

He gulped. "Yeah, I'd like that. Oh and Jacks?"

She nodded for him to continue.

"I know it's too soon to say this, and you're probably still extremely pissed at me, and lord knows you have every right to be, but I love you and I've never stopped loving you and I'm going to get you back if it's the last thing I do."

"I was hoping you'd say that." She said as the elevator door closed.

* * *

Two men sat on a balcony drinking scotch.

"Did it work?" One man asked the other.

"Yes."

"You owe me you know."

"Anything you need, Calvin."

With that, William Barnett smiled and gave a toast to true love.


	2. Fight

That 70's Show is owned by Fox.

Part Two of the Fight/Flight two shot. Please Review.

* * *

Jackie had done a lot of thinking one her way to Chicago about Flight versus Fight. When one chooses flight, neither is necessary better than the other, both are liable have disastrous consequences. She had chosen flight when she had found out her boyfriend, the man she cared most about, had chosen getting drunk with his friends rather then be with her. It was no use fighting for something that wasn't going to happen. The way Jackie saw it, there was no choice.

And now she stood in her hotel room in Chicago as her boyfriend held the towel that had been wrapped around Kelso's waist. She could tell he was deciding between flight or fight. She knew Steven, knew what he was going to choose. He turned and walked out, leaving Jackie behind forever.

Little did Jackie Burkhart know, but that one decision was going to change everything.

She had gone back to Point Place for him. She couldn't stand to be anywhere where he wasn't. She would go and explain to him what happened, they would both yell, but he would eventually see that she loved him and he would admit he loved her. There would be a fight, but it would eventually work out. She was hopeful as he told her he wasn't ready to get married yet, but then, with one ring of the Forman's doorbell, she felt as though hope had finally been released from Pandora's Box.

"Fight" her brain was telling her. "Fight for him!"

"Oh hell no!" Jackie shouted as she made her way to the skank who was trying to steal her boyfriend.

"I don't know who you think you are, but Steven is my boyfriend and no whore is going to waltz in and take him from me!"

The tramp giggled. "Midget, if you knew anything about keeping a man, he wouldn't have come to me."

That set her off. "Well, I'm just sorry about your lip."

Samantha put her fingers to her lip. "What about my lip?" She asked, confused.

Without hesitation, Jackie pulled her fist back and made contact with Sam's face, knocking her back into the piano.

"That you whore!" Jackie screeched, running flying towards Sam.

* * *

Hyde stood motionless, his mouth dropped open, as the stripper he had met in Vegas announced she was his wife.

He was about to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he heard a familiar screech.

"Oh hell no!" Jackie was shouting as she ran to where Sam was standing. Sam had at least three inches on Jackie but Hyde knew from personal experience that Jackie kick some major ass when she wanted to. He had watched her kick Laurie's ass after all.

This was no different.

"He's my boyfriend you tramp!" A tiny fist hit Sam's face again.

For whatever reason, that brought everyone out of their shocked stupor.

"Jackie!" "Jackie!" both Hyde and Red yelled at her, as they attempted to pull her off Sam. Red turned to his wife. "Kitty, take Jackie into to kitchen and get her some ice for her hand. And some for uh…

"Sam."

"Yeah, get some ice for Sam too while you're at it."

"Jackie." Hyde said again in a softer tone as Kitty took her into the kitchen. She then came out with a bag of frozen peas for Sam. "Here." She then shook her head and went back to Jackie.

Kitty sat next to Jackie at the table.

"I feel like a gin and tonic, how about you?" She laughed.

Jackie didn't say anything.

Kitty sat a drink in front of Jackie. "It'll be okay. Steven will do the right thing."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Jackie whispered.

"Oh, now, don't be like that! Steven cares a lot about you. So he ran to Vegas over a misunderstanding and ended up married to a stranger, but honey, he was just upset. And you know how bad Steven's judgment gets when he's upset."

"I know Mrs. Forman, but I don't think he'll ever forgive me. I just, I thought we were going to last you know?"

Kitty Forman sighed and gulped down her gin and tonic.

Jackie suddenly stood up and ran out to the living room, leaving Kitty behind in wonderment. She looked at Jackie's glass. She never touched it.

* * *

"I can't believe this." Hyde was muttering to himself. Married to a stripper. His parents would be proud of him. He had ended up just like them. Go white trash!

Just then, the kitchen door swung open again, and a small hand grabbed his and pulled him into the kitchen, down the stairs and into his room.

He knew what was coming, so he took a deep breath and sat down on his caught as he watched Jackie turn a bright shade or red.

"Jackie, breathe."

She was crying. Mascara was running down her face, making her look like a cheetah.

"I don't even know what to say Steven."

"Well, there's a first." He muttered sarcastically.

She turned around. "Don't joke about this!"

His shoulders fell. "Do you want me to start?" he asked.

"Yes."

* * *

He looked resigned, and asked her if he should start their conversation. She knew it wasn't going to be just a conversation though; it was going to be a fight. She watched as he took a deep breath.

"You nailed Kelso!"

"No I didn't!"

"Then why was he wearing a towel huh?"

"Oh please, have you met Michael? We should feel lucky he puts on pants at all!"

The two of them burst out laughing. He grabbed her as she started to fall to the floor.

"This isn't working." She said, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Come on, let's look at that hand." They sat on his bed and he took her hand into his.

"It's a good thing I taught you how to punch; otherwise your thumb would be broken."

Jackie gave a small smile. "So… what are you going to do?"

"I don't know." He admitted.

"Great, my three favorite words, you never know do you Steven?"

He put her hand down. "You're the one who wanted me to tell you that I was going to marry you!"

She shook her head. "That's such bullshit! I sad 'someday get married!" "Emphasis on the someday!" She exclaimed. "But no, you couldn't even give me that! You just had to say 'I don't know' and 'I don't know what to say.' I knew you were commitment phobic when you took so long to admit I was your girlfriend, but this, this took the commitment phobic cake!"

"You're the one who left without waiting for my answer." He retorted.

She raised her eye brow at him. "Oh, so I was imagining that whole part where you were passed out drunk in a warehouse."

"I was freaked out. You didn't give me a chance."

There was something frightening to him about the argument they were having. There was no shouting, no throwing objects. They were simply sitting on his bed, and if he was a stranger, he'd think they were just having an ordinary conversation. He wanted it to stop, wanted both of them to just accept what had happened and find a way to deal with it.

"I'm sorry I hurt you." She said, her voice soft.

"I'm sorry too."

"I should go talk to Sam, and you should put some ice on that hand, come on." He didn't want to hold her hand simply because he knew it would hurt, but he still wanted to touch her. He put his arm around her shoulder and walked with her upstairs.

* * *

Red was getting tired of having to listen to the blonde in his living room talk about her act.

"And then, I do this spinning thing and I bend over like this." She started to demonstrate.

He held up his hand. "No thank you!"

She frowned. "Well okay, but if you ever want me to show you, I'd be more than happy too!"

God she was stupid. If Steven chose her over the loud one, his foot was going to marry Steven's ass. With that thought, Steven came through the door.

"Where's Jackie, Steven?" Red asked.

"She's with Kitty, her hand is pretty banged up, and I think we'll have to take her to the hospital."

Red watched as Steven, the young man he considered to be his second son, looked at his wife. It was clear he was assessing her, trying to make a decision. If history had taught Red anything, it was that both of his sons were horrible at making decisions. Red was going to have to help him.

"Samantha, I think you should wait outside." Red told her. She shrugged, grabbed her bag of peas and walked out. Red turned back to Hyde.

"Steven, which one of them do you love?"

* * *

"Which one do you love?" Red was asking him.

He didn't know if he loved Jackie, but everyone else seemed to know for him. Jackie, Red, Kitty, Fez, Donna, Eric, Kelso. Even Leo had told him he loved Jackie

Well, if it was going to come down to that, there was no choice. But, he didn't want to be the guy who ran out on his wife. His dad had done that, and he wasn't going to be that guy. It was part of the reason he didn't want to get married in the first place.

Maybe he did, but love was a complicated emotion, and if there was one thing Hyde didn't like, it was complications. He turned to Red for guidance.

"It's not that easy Mr. Forman."

"Well, I think you should go with the blonde." Red told him.

He did? "You do?"

"Marrying a stripper is the male American dream, Steven. Most guys would kill to marry someone who dances naked every night for other men. You have a golden opportunity here son."

Hyde rubbed his ears. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Red patted Hyde on the back. "I say go for it!" He started to go into the kitchen but turned around.

"But there's one other thing you have to consider Steven, one day, you'll wake up next to her," He pointed towards Sam, "and you'll smell some other guy on her, see a love mark that isn't yours, and you won't care, because you don't love her. But every time you see Jackie hold hands with someone new, every time she whispers into someone's ear that isn't yours, your stomach will twist in knots, your heart will feel like it's being crushed. It'll be just like combat, but without the benefit of death. She'll eventually get over you Steven, maybe even start dating one of your friends. I know that foreign kid likes her."

Fez and Jackie? Well maybe that would work. Fez has always loved Jackie, and he could give Jackie what she's always wanted. But then thought of them sitting on the Forman couch hit him, their bodies close together, hands interlaced made him want to throw up.

"Again, I ask you, which one do you love?"

* * *

Hyde was left alone in the living room. A month ago, seeing Kelso in Jackie's hotel room caused him to choose flight over fight. Today, Jackie had chosen fight. Now, Steven had the make the same decision.

Fight with Jackie or Flight with Sam.

He walked into the kitchen, grabbed Jackie around her waist and carried her down the stairs to his bedroom.

Slamming the door behind him, he threw her onto the bed.

"Ouch!" she cried.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

"I landed on my hand." She told him.

"I'm sorry." He sat down next to her.

"Tell me what happened in Chicago." He requested.

"He was there because I was homesick. But nothing happened! He was just being stupid."

"You're telling me nothing happened?"

"Nothing." She reiterated, enunciating every syllable.

"Tell me why I should believe you."

"Oh, I don't know Steven. Maybe it's because I've never lied to you before?"

He raised her eyebrow at her.

"Nothing important anyway."

He raised his eyebrow again.

"Okay fine. I've lied to you. But only because I care. But I've never cheated on you, I've done anything to deliberately hurt you and you know that."

"You left me." He said simply.

And suddenly she got it. He wasn't mad about Kelso, he was mad about her leaving him just like everyone else in his life had left him. She reached out to touch his face.

He flinched.

She pulled her hand away and tried to hold back the tears.

In response, he took her hand in his and started rubbing comforting circles with his thumb.

"I wasn't going to propose." He said.

"I know." She replied.

"I just, I wanted to see you. I needed to be with you."

"And now?"

"Now, I want to go to sleep. I've had a really crappy day."

She started to get up. "I'll go then. We'll talk tomorrow I guess."

"No."

She turned around and looked at the man who was breaking her heart. She couldn't see his eyes behind his sunglasses, and his expression was unreadable, but one thing was for sure, he looked tired.

"No?" She questioned. "You don't want to talk tomorrow?" She asked her voice choked.

"No, I meant don't go." He laid down on his bed. He made room for her and patted the bed. "Come to bed Jackie."

She crawled in beside him and he put his arm around her.

"Steven?"

"Go to sleep Jackie." He mumbled into her hair.

She sighed and closed her eyes. The news would wait until tomorrow.

The end.

I'm not super happy with this, but it did help me figure out how I'm going to do something in Don't Stand So Close to Me, so that's good.


	3. Flight, Return

I had to listen to a lot of bad eighties music in order to write this, you can pay me back with reviews.

1980.

Eric Forman's return to Point Place was not the joyous occasion he had imagined. As he stepped into the basement, he was amazed how much it had changed in the space of a year.

"Hi."

The group looked up and said a half hearted hi, as though he had just been away for a couple hours. Fez finally stood up and hugged Eric.

"Where's Kelso and Jackie?" He asked, not knowing that it was a bad subject. Both Hyde and Donna glared at him.

"Xnay on the ackie J." Fez whispered.

"Kelso's in Chicago." Hyde told him.

"We don't know where Jackie is." Donna sounded bitter.

Eric sat down on the couch and looked at Fez in silent question. Fez just mouthed "I'll tell you later."

"So how was Africa?" Hyde asked him.

"Hot." "Here?"

Donna laughed sarcastically.

"Crappy." Fez supplied, earning him a glare from Hyde.

It was then that a tall blonde wearing a hot pink tube top walked into the basement. "Hi honey." She said cheerfully to Hyde.

Eric once again looked at Fez who frowned in return. "Hyde's wife."

"Yeah man, I got married."

There were so many things wrong with that statement that Eric didn't know where to begin.

Wasn't he going to marry Jackie? Who the hell was this girl?

"I'm Sam." The girl seemed nice enough.

"Eric."

"I gotta go." Donna said, getting up and walking out.

Hyde stood up as well. "Nice to see you Forman." He and Sam walked into his room, leaving Fez and Eric alone.

Fez sighed. "Like I said, crappy."

"So let me get this straight." Eric was saying a while later, "Hyde saw Kelso wearing a towel in Chicago so he went to Chicago where he married the first whore he could find, and then Jackie ran away and no one has seen or heard from her since?"

Fez nodded. "Yep."

"I'm sorry I missed it."

He then went to find Donna. She was sitting on the water tower. He climbed up and sat next to her.

"She left me Eric. I needed her and she left me, just like you did."

"I'm sorry." He said sincerely.

"No, I'm the one who is sorry." "Why did she leave Eric?" It was a question he knew he didn't need to answer, as they both knew.

Jackie's first instinct was always flight, and it had only been a matter of time before she ran away for good.

* * *

1988.

It had been eight years since she had been in Point Place. Steven had kept his promise to her in the hallway of her apartment. He temporarily moved into his father's condo so he could be closer to Jackie and Stephanie. He took them out, to dinners, shows, museums, when Stephanie was asleep the two would stay up and talk. About the past, the present, the future. Of their hopes, dreams, insecurities. They got to know each other again, this time as mature adults. The days turned into weeks, and then a few months later, he asked them to move to Point Place with him.

At first, she didn't know what to say. She was a successful designer, working for one of the top fashion designers, and her daughter was accustomed to living in the big city. But regardless of all that, Jackie had missed all of her friends in Point Place and she wanted to be with Steven. Besides, Stephanie deserved it. The city was no place to raise a kid. As she drove into the town, she could see her daughter, Stephanie, glower. Jackie turned up the stereo. Robert Plant's Addicted to Love came on.

"Come on Steph, it's our song!" She said cheerfully.

"_Can't sleep, can't eat_." Jackie sang, urging Stephanie to join her.

"_There's no doubt you're in deep_." Her daughter sang reluctantly.

As the song progressed, Stephanie finally let go and the two started to sing at the top of their lungs.

"_You're gonna have to face it you're addicted to love_!" Jackie smiled over at the eight year old.

"Hey, you want to see where I used to live?" Jackie asked.

"Sure." Jackie had told her daughter about being raised in a mansion, but she wasn't sure if Stephanie ever believed her.

Jackie was amazed she could still remember how to get around, with only a few wrong turns, mostly due to a couple added sub divisions, she found herself on her old street.

"That's it." She pulled over on the side of the road. She looked at the peeling shingles and the growing weeds in the yard.

"It used to look a lot better."

"Uh huh." Stephanie said in disbelief.

"It was! It was the best house in Point Place!" Jackie defended her old home. She looked back up at it. She had half a mind to get out of the car and give the new owners a piece of her mind. How dare they not take care of Chateau Burkhart! Jackie reached over and tucked a loose strand of Stephanie's dark curly hair behind her ear. "Oh well, I didn't spend a lot of time there anyway."

"Right, because you mostly hung out in Uncle Eric's basement."

"That's right." Jackie said as she drove to the Formans. "You and Eric are going to get along, seeing as you're both geeks."

Stephanie stuck her tongue out at her mother. Jackie pulled into the driveway and was instantly taken back in time. She watched as the boys played basketball while she and Donna sat on the Vista Cruiser.

"Mom?" Stephanie broke Jackie from her thoughts. Jackie smiled weakly. "I was just reminiscing."

"You know, it's okay to be scared."

Jackie laughed. "Shouldn't I be the one saying that to you?"

Stephanie shrugged and the two got out of the car. "You're here for daddy and if it means I have to live in a place where the cows out number the people, then okay." Jackie placed a kiss on top of Stephanie's growing head. "You're the most perfect daughter."

"I know."

It was amazing how much like her father Stephanie was. Not only in looks, she had Steven's curly hair, his blue eyes, his nose. She had even inherited his height as she was already almost eye to eye with her mother. She was still her mother's daughter though, as they shared a very similar personality. What really got Jackie though was that somehow, through no fault of her own, and nothing to explain, it, she had inherited characteristics of the group. She wore bandanas like Donna, although Jackie couldn't blame her, as Stephanie's hair was a wild beast that refused to be tamed, she loved candy like Fez, Star Wars like Eric and was a complete klutz like Michael. It was as though God put all those characteristics into Stephanie so that Jackie wouldn't miss her friends too much. Jackie watched as Stephanie attempted to tie her hair back into a pony tail. Jackie pulled her hand away and did it for her. "Some day, we will find a way to control this." She had been saying it for years. Stephanie laughed. "I think there's a better chance of the Berlin Wall coming down." The sliding door opened and an older Kitty Forman stepped out.

"Jackie!" Kitty ran over to her and wrapped her in a hug. Jackie hugged her back just as strongly.

"Hi Mrs. Forman." Kitty let her go and turned to Stephanie. "You must be Stephanie." She embraced the eight year old.

"Uh, hi Mrs. Forman." The girl said politely as she was being squeezed. Kitty let her go and shook her head. "Oh that won't do. You're going to call me grandma and that's it!"

Stephanie cracked a smile. "Okay." Kitty studied the girl. "Wow, she looks just Steven." Kitty took both of their arms. "Come inside you two, I'll make you some sandwiches." They let themselves be dragged inside.

"Look who I found!" Kitty said cheerfully as they entered the kitchen. Red Forman looked up from his paper.

"Great, it's loud girl and loud girl junior." He said, and then returned his gaze to the paper.

"Wait for it." Kitty whispered to the girls.

Red stood up and walked up to Jackie. "I need you to do me a favor."

"Anything." Jackie said sincerely.

Red grabbed the flashlight from the counter. "Hold this." Jackie took the flashlight and the two walked out to the garage.

"She always was Red's favorite."

Stephanie smiled and sat down at the table as Kitty made her a sandwich.

"So where is everyone?" Stephanie asked.

"They're all still at work, but in hour they'll be here." Kitty answered.

* * *

As Jackie held the flashlight while Red worked on the car, Jackie couldn't help but think of how much she had missed this.

"I should put my foot in your ass." He said to her from under the hood.

"I know."

"You broke a lot of hearts that day." Red told her.

"I know, I'm sorry."

Red looked up. "Well, you're back now, and you brought Kitty a granddaughter to spoil, so I think she's forgiven you."

"What about you?" Red approval always meant more to Jackie then her own fathers.

"Jackie, I think you made a big mistake running away from your problems like that, but it's not my place to be mad at you." He paused. "There is one person though who might be harder to convince."

She knew exactly who he was referring too.

"Move the light over to the left." Jackie obeyed and the two settled into their old groove.

* * *

Hyde looked at his watch. "Leo, I'm taking off." He told the aging hippy. Leo smiled and waved at him. He drove straight home as Kitty had called him as soon as Jackie and Stephanie had arrived. All he wanted to do was see his girls again. He had half a mind to just walk in and kiss Jackie senseless. He pulled the El Camino up in the drive way to see her short frame leaning over Red's car. Hyde laughed. She hadn't even been home for two hours and Red was already making her help with the car. It was as though nothing had changed. He got out of his car and walked up to them.

"Hey."

She looked up, her face dirty. Yep, he still wanted to kiss her. So he did.

He stopped when Red coughed. "Not in my garage." Hyde took Jackie's hand and they walked inside.

Spotting her mother, Stephanie laughed.

"I have grease on my face don't I?" Jackie asked.

"Yes."

Jackie glared at Hyde and went to the bathroom to clean up. Hyde sat next to Stephanie at the table and Kitty placed a sandwich in front of him. "Eric called; he and Donna are on their way."

"What about Fez?"

"Said he had to make an emergency candy run."

"I hope he gets skittles." Stephanie said.

When Hyde had met Stephanie, it had taken Him about two hours to realize that Jackie had told him the truth when she had said that Stephanie was like the group put together. They had argued for nearly thirty minutes about Star Wars while Stephanie popped M&Ms in her mouth.

She wasn't just his, but was all of theirs.

The door opened and Fez walked in. The eighties had been weird to Fez. He wore a white Jackie and a pale pink shirt, just like on Miami Vice. Without fail, Fez put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a bag of skittles. "Here you go one bag of skittles." He gave them to Stephanie.

"Thanks uncle Fez."

Fez beamed. "I'm an uncle!"

While he might have looked different, he was still the same old Fez.

* * *

Jackie walked out from the bathroom, her face now clean. The kiss had literally taken Jackie's breath away and she needed to calm herself down before she went back out there.

"Fezzy!" She shouted, running straight for the dark skinned man.

"Jacqueline!" The two embraced tightly.

"Oh god it's the devil." A sarcastic voice broke the two apart.

"Eric!" She ran to him and hugged him just as tightly. Oddly enough, he let her. "How are you Vader?" Even stranger was the fact that he held her back.

"Vader. Psst." Stephanie waved her hand. "If anything Mom is more like an Ewok."

"If you mean cute and adorable, then yes I am." Jackie and Stephanie stuck their tongues out at each other.

Eric laughed. "Donna is getting some stuff out of the car." He sat down at the table.

"So, I hear you like Star Wars." He said to Stephanie. She looked at him. "Does Han Solo like Leia?"

"I'll have you know lady that in my day, Leia wanted Luke."

"But that's gross. They're twins." Stephanie said it like she was speaking to a child.

"Well we didn't know that then." Eric defended.

"But even in the first movie you can tell Leia was all over Han."

Donna walked inside with Red, both carrying large bags. As soon as she sat them down, she and Jackie got into a staring contest.

"'Hi." Jackie said shyly.

"Hi."

"I'm sorry!" Both said at the same time.

"No, I'm sorry!"

"No I am!"

"Is this hug mom day?" Stephanie asked her father.

He smiled. "I didn't hug her if that makes you feel any better."

"It does."

"I kissed her instead."

Stephanie grimaced. "I didn't need to know that."

* * *

The kids ended up back in the basement. Come on Eileen was playing.

"So what do you think of Point Place?" Donna asked Stephanie.

"It's small. Mom drove me by her old house." She said house in quotation marks.

Jackie looked up. "Have you guys seen it lately? I'm going to go there and tell the new owners off."

The others looked at each other awkwardly.

"Uh, Jackie, your mom still owns the house." Hyde told her.

Jackie frowned. "Shit."

The door to the basement opened and Kelso walked in. He grabbed a Popsicle out of the cooler and then sat down in his usual chair. He didn't seem to notice either Jackie or Stephanie. Everyone just stared at him.

"Eileen sounds hot." He said, taking bite from his Popsicle.

"Yeah, I'd like to too loo rah ray her." Fez smirked.

Jackie glared at them. "Could you two please refrain from talking about 'To Loo Rah Raying girls while my kid is in the room?"

Kelso finally realized that Jackie was in the room. "Jackie!" He jumped up from his chair and picked the petite woman up.

"Michael!" He put her down. "Why didn't you tell me you were here?"

"And why didn't you tell me you became a priest?"

Kelso looked down at the priest's collar around his neck. "Oh this, I'm not really a priest." He stood up straight. "I'm a thespian."

Stephanie laughed. "You should see a doctor about that."

The others laughed. "Hyde, your kid is awesome." Eric told him. Hyde just nodded proudly.

Kelso grinned. "So are you guys excited?"

Both Hyde and Jackie smiled, both Stephanie just shrugged. "Eh."

"Watch it Missy or I'll dance."

Stephanie glared at her mom. "You wouldn't."

"I would."

Stephanie looked her mom in the eye. "And risk dad seeing you make a fool out of yourself? I don't think so."

Jackie smiled at Stephanie. "That sounded like a dare."

"It was."

Jackie sighed. "Fine, you pick the song."

Stephanie stood up and walked over to the cassette collection. "What's with all the Styx?" She finally saw something she liked and put it in.

Donna smiled as Jackie moved to stand behind the couch. "You and your daughter have a very strange relationship."

"Well, that's what happens when you have to raise a kid on your own." Jackie said.

"I thought you were married." Donna was confused.

"Like I said, that's what happens when you have to raise a kid on your own." She started to sing.

Michael Jackson's Billy Jean came on.

"Oh, this doesn't scare. I was the Miss Disco 1978."

"I know you've shown me the trophy, now dance!"

Jackie smirked and danced to Billy Jean, recreating Michael Jackson's famous moves, including the moonwalk. Everyone clapped.

Jackie looked at the time. "It's your bed time missy."

Stephanie pouted. "Fine." She looked at her new aunt and uncles. "Good night."

"Want me to tuck you in?" Jackie asked.

"I'll do it." Hyde said, standing up.

As the two started up the stairs, Jackie called out to Stephanie. "Stephanie!"

"Yeah mom?"

"You spin me around."

"Like a record." Her daughter replied, and continued up the stairs with Hyde.

Jackie smiled and sat down on the couch.

* * *

Hyde walked his daughter up to Laurie's room, her bags were already in the room and she quickly gathered her pajamas. She looked at Hyde expectantly.

"Ahem."

He stared at her.

"I need to change."

Realization hit him. "Oh, right, uh, just let me know when you're done." He stepped out and closed the door to give Stephanie some privacy.

When Jackie had first told him that he had a daughter his first emotion, after getting over the initial shock, was anger. Anger at her for not telling him, anger at himself for not being there for them. While he had been enjoying the benefits of marriage, Jackie had been struggling to keep herself and their daughter alive. Clearly, she had made it, had put herself through school, and had both married well and had a good career. He had never been more proud of her.

"I'm ready." Stephanie's called to him.

He opened the door. She was already in Laurie's old bed. He sat down next to her. "So, what exactly do I do? Do I read to you? Sing a lullaby?"

She laughed. "Mom and I usually talk."

"What do you talk about?"

"Everything, clothes, boys, TV."

"Did she ever talk about us?"

Stephanie nodded. "She always made sure I knew who you were. Kyle didn't like that very much." She shrugged. "I'm glad you and mom got back together." She laid her head down on the pillow.

"Me too kiddo." He kissed her forehead and then turned off the light, closing the door behind him.

He walked back down to the basement. Everyone was still there. Fez seemed to be in a middle of telling Jackie how he met his latest girlfriend.

"She's the one, I just know it."

"Don't listen to him Jackie." Kelso told her. "He's said that about like the last six girls."

Hyde sat down in his chair. Donna turned to Jackie. "Okay, now that we're all here, you have to tell us what happened when you left."

"Steven didn't tell you?"

They all shook their heads.

"I thought it would be better if you told them."

Jackie sighed and started her story.

* * *

Jackie stepped off the bus in New York City with exactly two hundred dollars in cash and whatever she had in her bank account. She was nauseated by both hunger and the smell of urine. Jackie closed her eyes and willed herself not to cry. She had the address of an old family acquaintance written on a piece of paper. After asking directions, she ended up walking the distance only to find that the acquaintance had moved out and hadn't left a forwarding address.

She ended up staying that night at the local Y, promising herself and her baby that it would be temporary.

Never once did she cry, even with all the homeless bums leering at her. It was high time she learned how to be self reliant.

The next day she brought herself a breakfast at a small diner, it wasn't the best food Jackie had ever had, but she wasn't going to complain. After eating, she paid and went to a free clinic where after a quick check up, she was given pre natal vitamins and instructions to take it easy.

Doctors always said that. She'd take it easy when she had a job and a place to live. That night, she went back to the diner where she ate four pieces of pie. She flirted her way into getting a cheap motel room. She took an hour long shower trying to release the tension from her body.

The phone beckoned her, and she started to pick it up. Surely they were worried about her.

But then she remembered all the snide comments she had gotten over the years, and put

the phone down. It was better if she had no contact.

* * *

"I can't believe you thought that!" Donna shouted, interrupting Jackie's story.

"I was a mess Donna; I didn't know what to think." She continued.

* * *

The next day she went back to the diner for breakfast, and then looked for a place to work. She was turned down as she had no permanent place of address and refused to give any references. The only people she knew where the Formans, and she couldn't use them.

"I don't know what I'm going to." She told the waitress, Colleen."

"You know what you need to do?" Colleen asked her.

"Find a job?"

"No, you need to dance. It's what I do when I'm down."

Jackie smiled. "My feet hurt."

Colleen pulled her up. "Ray, turn up the radio!"

Colleen spun Jackie around and the two started to dance in the diner to Build Me Up Buttercup. It was true, dancing did make Jackie feel better. Soon, an elderly man was dancing with his wife, and a young couple had followed in their footsteps. Others were singing to the music.

"I'll tell you what." Colleen said to Jackie, "How about you work here, temporarily, and tonight you can stay with me." Jackie's response was to hug the older woman. "Thank you!"

Jackie made sure to save up her money, gone were the days when she spent her cash of frivolous items. She had pawned most of her jewelry, including the necklace Steven had given her last valentines day. She and Colleen struck up a friendship that in some ways went beyond what she and Donna ever had. Colleen understood what it meant to be lost. Every night, when the two would return to their apartment, they would sing and dance until their feet no longer hurt. Jackie had no idea how that worked, but it did.

It had been Colleen's idea that Jackie go back to school. There were scholarships that Jackie could get, and she had enough money saved up. Jackie knew that she didn't want to be a waitress for the rest of her life, so she followed Colleen's advice. At first, she only took one class at the community college, because she didn't want to over exert herself. She was already seven months pregnant, and getting around was difficult.

Every night, Colleen would hand Jackie the phone and tell her to call home.

One time, she did, if only to hear someone's voice.

"Hello?" It was him. She stopped breathing.

"Hello?" He said again.

She quickly hung up and looked down at it. "Hello, Steven."

On New Years, she spent the day in the hospital giving birth. Stephanie was born January 2, 1980. Colleen and Ray were there, holding her hand as she screamed. When it was all over, she was holding a six pound girl with Steven's curly hair and blue eyes. Jackie named her Stephanie Hyde.

Two years later, Jackie graduated from college with a degree in design and fashion merchandising. Colleen switched her shifts to days so she would be able to baby sit Stephanie. She was also set up on dates, mostly with friends of her school mates. Whenever Jackie uttered the words "I have a kid." They would go running.

Every night, Colleen and she would get into an argument about whether she should tell Steven.

"Call him." Colleen ordered, handing Jackie the phone.

Jackie shook her head. "What am I supposed to say to him?"

"How about "Hi, it's Jackie."

"And then what? Btw, you have a kid? I don't think so."

"Stephanie deserves to know her father." Colleen admonished.

"Stephanie deserves a lot of things, that doesn't mean she's ever going to get them."

She got a job as a receptionist for Calvin Klein the day Colleen died.

It had begun like any other day. Jackie had an interview; Colleen had picked up a double shift at the diner, so both were unable to watch Stephanie. Marissa, a friend of Jackie's from school, had been eager to watch Stephanie. After the interview, she ran home to tell Colleen how it went.

Except Colleen wasn't home. Marissa sat on the couch crying, she said that there had been a mugging, and Colleen had died on the spot.

It was the first day in over three years that Jackie seriously considered moving back to Point Place.

And then the phone rang. It was an HR Rep for Calvin Klein offering her the job.

If she hadn't been offered the job, she would have gone back, or at the very least, moved to another small hole in the wall Midwestern town. But Jackie knew an opportunity when she saw it, and there was no way she was going to let it go.

* * *

"How did you meet your husband?" Fez asked.

"We met five years later on the subway. He was cute, I gave him my number. He was rich, he was a doctor, and he didn't care that I had a kid. The first year was good, but eventually both of us just stopped caring, and he stopped hiding his infidelity. Besides, I was too busy with my job and Stephanie to really care. I only ended up asking for a divorce because he started to bring his girlfriends over to the house, and I didn't want Stephanie to see that. I had to see it with my parents and well, I didn't want her to go through that like I did, so we moved out."

"I can't believe it." Donna muttered.

"Well, believe it, that's the way it happened." Jackie told her snottily.

Donna was quick to explain. "No, I believe you; I'm just amazed that you were able to deal with all of that."

Jackie shrugged. "I did what I had to."

"I'd be running back to my mommy the first night." Eric admitted.

Jackie sighed. "What if you didn't have anyone to run back too?"

They all sat in silence as they considered the implications of that statement. Jackie broke it. "I spent my entire life running, and when I got to New York, I was forced to fight. I wanted so badly to just give up."

"But you didn't." Hyde told her. He wrapped his arm around her tighter. He was never going to let her go.

Sometimes, the difference between Fight and Flight end up not being different at all.


End file.
